by Jim Kouri, CPP
The news media’s obsession with milestones brought enormous attention to the issue of the death penalty in the United States. The denizens of US newsrooms anxiously awaited the execution of the 1000th person since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
However, the day before vicious killer Robin Lovitt was to meet his maker, Virginia’s governor commuted the murderer’s death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Lovitt was facing death for stabbing a man to death with a pair of scissors during a 1988 pool hall robbery.
Gov. Mark R. Warner, defending his decision, claims that evidence from the Lovitt trial was improperly destroyed, depriving Lovitt’s lawyers of the opportunity to examine the materials with the latest in DNA testing procedures.
But all is not lost. That elusive 1,000th execution is now scheduled in North Carolina, where a murderer, Kenneth Lee Boyd, will be executed for killing his estranged wife and her father.
Associated Press reports that Boyd said he doesn’t feel he deserves a death sentence for the 1988 murders. (Wow. What a scoop! I smell Pulitzer.)
“I don’t like the idea of being picked as a number,” Boyd said. “I feel like I should be in prison for the rest of my life.” I’ve got a flash for Mr. Boyd: he wasn’t picked as a number, he was picked as a murderer.
Boyd’s attorney, Thomas Maher, said he hopes media attention brought by the milestone “means that the governor will therefore take the clemency petition seriously _ but I hope that would be true regardless of whether this is case 999, 1,000 or 1,001.”
The US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 after they made certain that state laws to reform capital punishment were valid. This ended a moratorium on the death penalty that began in 1966. The first execution took place on January 1977, when Gary Gilmore, 36, was shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison. Gilmore was the subject of an Emmy-winning TV movie titled, “The Executioner’s Song.”
But perhaps capital punishment isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Sadly, the death sentence is inconsistently utilized, and even when utilized the odds are in favor of the murderer that he or she will not be executed.
Since 1976, following the Supreme Court decision, only 999 killers have been executed. In 29 years only 999 executions? That means an average of 34 death sentences are carried out each year.
Since 1976, there have been well over 500,000 homicide victims in the United States. Of course, not all of them were classified as murders, with most killers charged with manslaughter. However, even if only 20% of the half-million homicides committed since 1976 are classified as first-degree murder, that would translate into 100,000 first-degree murder cases in 29 years. So 999 executions are a mere drop in the bucket.
In 1977 there were about 19,000 homicides committed in the United States. Putting aside manslaughter charges, there were enough murders to have produced 999 executions in one year and the media would have had their report about a milestone in 1977 instead of 2005
Although I support the death penalty, I believe it’s used by politicians as a smokescreen when faced with questions regarding their plans to fight crime. Usually Republicans use this smokescreen. Democrats, who for the most part oppose the death penalty, use gun control as their own smokescreen. Americans should never gauge a politician’s anticrime performance based on whether or not he or she supports or opposes the death penalty. Same as it’s silly to gauge a politician’s effectiveness by using their stance on gun control.
The politicians want votes. The news media want milestones. The American people want justice.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a staff writer for New Media Alliance (thenma.org), and he’s a columnist for TheConservativeVoice.Com, AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. If you wish to sign up for his intelligence reports, write to JimKouriReports@aol.com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us
